Same Sex Marriage Ruling Could Affect West Virginia

Gay-rights groups in three states have a special interest in a federal appeals court hearing on Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Tuesday on a lower court’s ruling striking down Virginia’s ban on gay marriage.

North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia also are part of the 4th Circuit. Leaders of gay-rights organizations in those states said Monday that a ruling upholding the Virginia decision could strike down their bans, or at least set a precedent for similar legal challenges.

Maryland also is in the 4th Circuit, but it is one of the 17 states that already allow same-sex marriage.